The Venus Project

Last updated
The Venus Project
FoundedApril 6, 1985;38 years ago (1985-04-06)
Founder Jacque Fresco
Type Not-for-profit
Location
Key people
Roxanne Meadows
Website https://www.thevenusproject.com/

The Venus Project is a 501(c) nonprofit organization founded by architect and social engineer Jacque Fresco. [1] Fresco, along with his partner Roxanne Meadows, founded this project with a socioeconomic model to develop a resource-based economy for human beings utilizing technology. [2]

Contents

History

Before the Venus Project Fresco worked on the Project Americana from 1955 to 1959. That project was mainly about environmental, traffic, and floodgate concerns. [3] [2]

In 1970, Fresco formed an organization, Sociocybereneering Inc, based on the idea of combining technology and energy conservation strategies. Later, Fresco and his partner Roxanne Meadows purchased 21 acres (8.5 ha) of farmland in Venus, Florida, an unincorporated community in southeastern Highlands County, Florida in order to conduct different types of research about their futuristic architectural design and city models. [3] [4] Fresco and Meadows began creating buildings and other infrastructure to actualize their idea of energy-efficient cities. According to The New York Times , initially, they supported the project by selling books and lecture videos. In 1980, Fresco, established a research center to experiment on resource-based economy and later named it "The Venus Project" after the town of Venus, Florida. [5] [6]

The project was prominently featured in Peter Joseph's 2009 film Zeitgeist: Addendum. Fresco and Joseph parted ways in 2011. [7]

In 2010, Fresco and Meadows traveled to 20 countries to present the Venus Project. [8]

In June 2012, a Swedish documentary and fiction director, Maja Borg screened her film, Future My Love, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival featuring the work of Fresco and Meadows. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Limits to Growth</i> 1972 book on economic and population growth

The Limits to Growth is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simulate the consequence of interactions between the Earth and human systems. The model was based on the work of Jay Forrester of MIT, as described in his book World Dynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EPCOT (concept)</span> Unfinished concept for a planned community

The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, shortened to EPCOT or E.P.C.O.T., was an unfinished concept for a planned community, intended to sit on a swath of undeveloped land near Orlando, Florida. It was created by Walt Disney in collaboration with the designers at Walt Disney Imagineering in the 1960s. Based on ideas stemming from modernism and futurism, and inspired by architectural literature about city planning, Disney intended EPCOT to be a utopian autocratic company town. One of the primary stated aims of EPCOT was to replace urban sprawl as the organizing force of community planning in the United States in the 1960s. Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial, and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, "Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future".

A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politically applied focus. The 2011 UNEP Green Economy Report argues "that to be green, an economy must not only be efficient, but also fair. Fairness implies recognizing global and country level equity dimensions, particularly in assuring a Just Transition to an economy that is low-carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steady-state economy</span> Constant capital and population size

A steady-state economy is an economy made up of a constant stock of physical wealth (capital) and a constant population size. In effect, such an economy does not grow in the course of time. The term usually refers to the national economy of a particular country, but it is also applicable to the economic system of a city, a region, or the entire world. Early in the history of economic thought, classical economist Adam Smith of the 18th century developed the concept of a stationary state of an economy: Smith believed that any national economy in the world would sooner or later settle in a final state of stationarity.

Post-scarcity is a theoretical economic situation in which most goods can be produced in great abundance with minimal human labor needed, so that they become available to all very cheaply or even freely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freiberg University of Mining and Technology</span> University in Freiberg, Germany

The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg is a public university of technology with 3,471 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. Its focuses are exploration, mining & extraction, processing, and recycling of natural resources & scrap, as well as developing new materials and researching renewable energies. It is highly specialized and proficient in these fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable urban infrastructure</span>

Sustainable urban infrastructure expands on the concept of urban infrastructure by adding the sustainability element with the expectation of improved and more resilient urban development. In the construction and physical and organizational structures that enable cities to function, sustainability also aims to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the capabilities of the future generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacque Fresco</span> American futurist (1916–2017)

Jacque Fresco was an American futurist and self-described social engineer. Self-taught, he worked in a variety of positions related to industrial design.

Post-capitalism is in part a hypothetical state in which the economic systems of the world can no longer be described as forms of capitalism. Various individuals and political ideologies have speculated on what would define such a world. According to classical Marxist and social evolutionary theories, post-capitalist societies may come about as a result of spontaneous evolution as capitalism becomes obsolete. Others propose models to intentionally replace capitalism, most notably socialism, communism, anarchism, nationalism and degrowth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transition town</span> Community with core principles of self-sufficiency

The terms transition town, transition initiative and transition model refer to grassroot community projects that aim to increase self-sufficiency to reduce the potential effects of peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability through renewed localization strategies, especially around food production and energy usage. In 2006, the founding of Transition Town Totnes in the United Kingdom became an inspiration for other groups to form. The Transition Network charity was founded in early 2007, to support these projects. A number of the groups are officially registered with the Transition Network. Transition initiatives have been started in locations around the world, with many located in the United Kingdom and others in Europe, North America and Australia. While the aims remain the same, Transition initiatives' solutions are specific depending on the characteristics of the local area.

Degrowth is an academic and social movement critical of the concept of growth in gross domestic product as a measure of human and economic development. Degrowth theory is based on ideas and research from a multitude of disciplines such as economics, economic anthropology, ecological economics, environmental sciences and development studies. It argues that the unitary focus of modern capitalism on growth, in terms of monetary value of aggregate goods and services, causes widespread ecological damage and is not necessary for the further increase of human living standards. Degrowth theory has been met with both academic acclaim and considerable criticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Joseph</span> American filmmaker and activist (born 1979)

Peter Joseph is an American independent filmmaker and activist. He is best known for the Zeitgeist film series, which he wrote, directed, narrated, scored, and produced. He is also the founder of the related Zeitgeist Movement. Other work by Joseph includes the 2017 book The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Zeitgeist Movement</span> Movement that emerged from the Zeitgeist movie series

The Zeitgeist Movement is an activist movement established in the United States in 2008 by Peter Joseph. The group is critical of market capitalism, describing it as structurally corrupt and wasteful of resources. The group dismisses historic religious concepts as misleading, and embraces sustainable ecology and scientific administration of society. VC Reporter's Shane Cohn summarized the movement's charter as: "Our greatest social problems are the direct results of our economic system".

A sustainability organization is (1) an organized group of people that aims to advance sustainability and/or (2) those actions of organizing something sustainably. Unlike many business organizations, sustainability organizations are not limited to implementing sustainability strategies which provide them with economic and cultural benefits attained through environmental responsibility. For sustainability organizations, sustainability can also be an end in itself without further justifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circular economy</span> Production model to minimise wastage and emissions

A circular economy is a model of resource production and consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. The concept aims to tackle global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution; keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems." CE is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy. The idea and concepts of a circular economy have been studied extensively in academia, business, and government over the past ten years. It has been gaining popularity because it can help to minimize carbon emissions and the consumption of raw materials, open up new market prospects, and, principally, increase the sustainability of consumption.

Zeitgeist is a series of three documentary films released between 2007 and 2011 that present a number of conspiracy theories, as well as proposals for broad social and economic changes. The films, Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007), Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008) and Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (2011) are all directed by Peter Joseph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eco-economic decoupling</span> Economy able to grow without corresponding increases in environmental pressure

In economic and environmental fields, decoupling refers to an economy that would be able to grow without corresponding increases in environmental pressure. In many economies, increasing production (GDP) raises pressure on the environment. An economy that would be able to sustain economic growth while reducing the amount of resources such as water or fossil fuels used and delink environmental deterioration at the same time would be said to be decoupled. Environmental pressure is often measured using emissions of pollutants, and decoupling is often measured by the emission intensity of economic output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Money Free movement</span> Political movement in NZ and UK

The Money Free movement is a political movement that advocates for a resource-based economy, where all work is voluntary. The movement has political parties in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and is aligned with work of the American-based Jacque Fresco, who is the founder of The Venus Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bas de Leeuw</span> Dutch economist (born 1959)

Bas de Leeuw is a Dutch economist and sustainability expert. He is currently Managing Director of the World Resources Forum.

The Olduvai Theory states that the current industrial civilization would have a maximum duration of one hundred years, counted from 1930. From 2030 onwards, mankind would gradually return to levels of civilization comparable to those previously experienced, culminating in about a thousand years in a hunting-based culture, such as existed on Earth three million years ago, when the Oldowan industry developed; hence the name of this theory, put forward by Richard C. Duncan based on his experience in handling energy sources and his love of archaeology.

References

  1. "Venus project - redesigning the future". BBC News. 25 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 Sandomir, Richard (25 May 2017). "Jacque Fresco, Futurist Who Envisioned a Society Without Money, Dies at 101". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 Lopez, Jaime (27 February 2012). "Floating Cities and Resource-Based Economies". The Costa Rica Star . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  4. Istvan, Zoltan (October 13, 2016). "Eliminating Money, Taxes, and Ownership Will Bring Forth Technoutopia". Vice. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  5. "NBC2 explores The Venus Project: 'What the future could be like'". NBC2 News. 19 December 2019.
  6. "The Venus Project". Resource Based Economy. 1 Apr 2019. Retrieved 7 Jul 2023.
  7. Gore, Jeff (October 12, 2011). "The view from Venus | Jacque Fresco designed a society without politics, poverty and war. Will it ever leave the drawing board?". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  8. "The Venus Project". 24 April 2010. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010.
  9. Adams, Mark (June 22, 2012). "Future My Love". Screen. Retrieved September 19, 2023.